Cableway-carriage mechanism



w. M. VENABLE GABLEWAY CARRIAGE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION HLED JUNE 8, I920.

Patented Apr. ,5, 1921.

3 sHEETs-sHEET I.

ATTORNEYS.

w. M. VENABLE. CABLEWAY CARRIAGE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, I920.

W. M. VENABLE. -CABLEWAY CARRIAGE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, I920.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- INVENTOR. ma, fr 7 75% ATTORNEYS.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MAYO VENAIBLE, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO BLAW- KNOX COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CABLEWAY-OARRIAGE MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A r; 5, 1921.

Application filed June 8, 1920. Serial No. 387,323.

single operating line which line serves also to'raise or lower the load to or from the car-' riage.

In this type of load conveying apparatus it is customary to incline the cable and pro vide it with an upper and a lower stop between which stops the carriage operates. The carriage moves downwardly toward the lower stop by gravity and is pulled upwardly toward the upper stop by the operating cable which cable, as above stated, also raises and lowers the load to or from the carriage.

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement over the construction disclosed and claimed in my prior Patent No. 1,322,074, issued November 18, 1919. In the earlier patent the construction shown in the drawings was such as to make it necessary for the carriage to alternate between the stops in order to have it properly perform all of its functions.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a mechanism in which it is not necessary for the carriage to visit the lower stop in order to have the parts properly positioned to visit the upper stop.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for adjusting the various movable parts to compensate for variations in the sag of the supporting cable and for inaccuracies in dimensions of manufactured part-s.

These, together with such other objects as may hereinafter appear or are incident to my invention, I obtain by means of a construction which is illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings, wherein? Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cableway carriage embodying my improvements with its load lowered and latched to the lower stop; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the load locked to the carriage and the carriage just leaving the lower stop; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the forward portion only of a cableway carriage embodying my improvements showing the parts just after they'have been pulled against the upper stop; F ig. l is a side elevation of a cableway carriage embodying my improved mechanism illustrating the position of the parts just after they have released the load; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the forward part only of a cableway carriage illustrating the parts in another position; and Fig. 6 isan end elevation of the parts as shown in Fig. 2.

The carriage, indicated as a whole by the reference character A, comprises two side frame plates 1 embracing a pair of sheaves 2 by means of which the carriage rolls along the cable 3 between the lower stop 4: and

the upper stop 5. The load, shown only'in Fig. 2 and there only partially, consists of an excavating bucket 6, the bail 7' of which is adapted to engage and to be disengaged from the hook 8 on the carriage. A single operating and hoisting line 9 is reaved over the sheave 10* and fastened to the carriage at the point marked 11, the bucket being adapted to be operated in the bight of the line, as shown in Fig. 2.

Two latches are provided, one at the lower end of the carriage and one at the upper end. The lower latch 12 engages with the stop 1 and the upper latch 13 engages with the stop 5. Locking mechanism actuated by these latches when they engage their respective stops, is provided for locking the load to or unlocking it from the carriage. This locking mechanism comprises a pair of arms 1 1d at the forward or upper end of the car riage pivoted intermediate their ends to the carriage upon the rod 15. The'latch 18 is carried at the upper ends of the members 14: upon the pin 16 and from the pin 17 in the lower ends extend two locking links 18, the 100 right hand ends of which are connectedto a lock bolt 20. The latch bars 18 operate this lock bolt 20 which is adapted to be moved into or out of engagement with the stop faces 21 and 22 on the hook 8. The

lock bar 20 is also connected to the pin 19, so that it is also operable by the latch 12. The hook 8 is also provided with a nose 23 a ainst which the bail 7 is adapted to abut when the load drawn up to the carriage.

: the carriage.

When the bail engages this nose the hook is revolved upon the pin 24 untilithe'bolt comes opposite the stop face22, as shown in.

- In order to release the load it"is necessary elther for the lnner nose of the lower latch 12 tojcome into contact with the stop f or for the'downwardly projecting hook 26 ofthe upper latch 13 to catch against the face 27 of the upper stop5. When this face 21.

occurs the links 18 are thrown to the right 'so' as to withdraw the bolt 20 from the face 22 and allow the hook 8 to revolve upon its pin 24 untilv the bolt 20 engages the stop The description so far involves structure which is practically identical with that shown and described in my earlier Patent No.1,322,074 above referred to and if desired reference may be made thereto for a more detailedanalysis of its operation.

In order to .permit the upper latch 13 to function in the manner desired, mechanism is provided for moving iteither into or out of position where the hook 26 engages the face 27. This mechanism will now be described. Below the rearwardly extending counterweight portion 28 of the latch 13 which is also pivotedupon the pin 16 T pivot to the carriage A on the pin 29 a cam 30. In its upright position the cam raises the portion 28 and throws the latch 13 downwardly into the position in which the hook 26 can engage. the face-27, this position being illustrated in Figs. 3, 4- and 5. In its substantially horizontal position, as shown inFigs. land 2 it p.ermits 'the latch 13 to beraised to a position in which the hook 26 will clear the face 27 of the stop 5 upon movement of the carriage away from said stop. Rotation of the cam is effected by means of'a pawl 31 cooperating With the lugs .32, said pawl being actuated by means of a pivoted member33 which I have termed flapperv and which is adapted to be moved upon engagement with the upper stop 5, The flapper 33 is pivoted upon the same pin 15 to which the arms Mare pivoted, but it operates entirely independently of said arms. It is provided with a weight arm 34 which always tends to hold it by gravity in its forward position. It is also provided with a rearwardly extending arm 35 between which and the pawl 31 is located a tension spring 36which acts to prevent the pawl from jumping.

; The flapper 33 is located to one side of the cable 3 and the stop 5 extends outwardly a sufiicient distance toengage the flapper and every time the flapper is drawn against said stop, it-swings on the pivot rod 15 and rotates thecam 30 one quarter of a turn.

The operation is as follows, assuming the parts to be'as illustrated in' Fig. 1: The operating line '9 is wound up until the bail 7 of the bucket 6 turns the hook 8 to the position in which bolt 20 can be thrown across stop face 22. A further pull upon theoperating line 9 draws the carriageiaway from the lower stop and as it does so the outer nose 25 of the latch 12 forces said latch downwardly thereby moving the pin 19 to throw the bolt 20 into the desired position. This is shown in Fig. 2. At the same time the forward latch 13 has been moved to the right on the arms 14. Under the pull of the operating line 9 the carriage then traverses the cable 3 until the flapper 33 engages the stop 5 whereupon the cam 30 is revolved to. its upright position and the latch 13 falls into its lower position. so that the hook 26 can engage with the face 27 upon a slight movement of the carriage away from the stop 5. When the line is paid out the weight of the carriage and its load then pulls the arms 1 1 to the left thereby throwing the links 18' to the right and withdrawing the bolt 20 from the stop face 22. The load then drops away from the carriage and is lowered as far as desired by further paying out of the operating cable 9. The position of "the flapper 33 and its associated parts upon its engagement with the stop just described is illustrated in Fig. 3. The position the parts occupy during release of the load is illustrated in Fig. 4, but as soon as the load leaves the carriage the carriage is drawn back again against the upper stop, by the tension on the line caused by the bucket hanging upon it.

Should the carriage by any accident approach the upper stop with the parts in the positions indicated in Fig. 5, engagement of the flapper 33 with the stop 5 will throw the cam so that when the carriage backs away from the stop the hook will not engage the face 27. In this event' the load will not be. released and all that it'is necessary todo in order to put theparts in proper position for release ofthe load is to draw the carriage a second time against the stop 5 whereupon the cam 30 will be rotated another quarter of a turn to an upright position. It will thus be seen that at no time is it essential that the carriage visit" the lower stop order to bring the parts into proper position for visiting the upper stop to accomplish release of'the'load. If they do not happen tobe in proper posit'ion'upon approach to the upper stop it is only neces sary to draw the carriage against the stop twice instead of once because each time that the flapper contacts with the stop so as to move it around the pivot pin 15, the cam 30 will also'be revolved." It is in this-respect principally thatthe present apparatus differs from and is an improvement over the apparatus illustrated in my earlier Patent No. 1,322,074. In the present case all of the functions of the mechanism can be properly performed without alternating the carriage between the stops.

In order to prevent the cam from being pushed around too far I have provided what I have termed a retarder 37 pivoted to the carriage at 38 and provided with slotted en- I gagement with the pin 89. The cam 30 engages the retarder whenever it is moved to an upright position and is thereby prevented from turning too far around. When the cam, however, is moved to its substantially horizontal position, the retarder is readily pushed aside by means of the curved surfaces.

In order to prevent reverse movement of the cam when in upright position I key to the shaft 20 a ratchet 4:0 provided with two teeth in which is adapted to catch a pawl 41 pivoted to the carriage. A spring 42 keeps the pawl 11 pressed against the ratchet. A slot 43 in the upper latch 13 engages a pin 44 on the left hand end of the member 28 and adjustment of the latch can be made by means of the screw 45. Adjustment should be made so that the hook 26can just pass over the stop 5 when the weight of a fully loaded bucket is added to the weight of the carriage.

Adjusting screw a6 should be set so that the members 1 L can move just far enough to throw the cam 80 and the ratchet d0 sufiiciently far around to permit the pawl 41 to engage one of the teeth in the ratchet.

The position of the nose 25 of the lower latch 12 should be adjusted by means of the nut and bolt link construction 47 so as to throw the lower latch 12 almost against the cable 3 when the bucket is on the ground.

I wish to call attention to the fact that the lower latch 12 may be omitted entirely without affecting the operation of the upper latch 13 so that the'carriage may be made either single acting or double acting.

The apparatus is simple, yet very efficient and durable. V

I claim:

1. A cableway carriage mechanism comprising in combination, a stop on the cable, a latch on the carriage adapted to engage and to be disengaged from said stop, means operating the latch, and movable means adapted to contact with the stop to actuate said latch operating means.

2. Acableway carriage mechanism comprising in combination, a stop on the cable, latch mechanism on the carriage adapted to engage and to be disengaged from said stop, means operating the latch mechanism, and movable means operatin the latch mechanism a apted to contact with the stop to actuate said latch moving means.

3. A cableway carriage mechanism comprising in combination, a pair of stops on the cable, a carriage operating between said stops, a movable latch on the carriage for each stop, means for actuating one of said latches, and movable means adapted to contact with one of said stops to actuate said first mentioned means.

1. A cableway carriage mechanism comprising in combination, a pair of stops on the cable, a load conveying carriage operating between the stops, a latch on the carriage for each stop, means for locking the load to the carriage, means actuated by a latch upon engagement with a stop for looking or unlocking said load locking means, means actuating one of said latches, and movable means operating independently of the load locking means adapted to contact with a stop to actuate the latch actuating means.

5. A cableway carriage mechanism comprising in combination, a stop on the cable, a load conveying carriage, a latch on the carriage adapted to engage the stop, means for locking the load to the carriage, means actuated by the latch upon engagement with the stop for locking or unlocking'said load locking means, means actuating the latch, and movable means operating independently of the load locking means adapted to contact with the stop to actuate the latch actuating means.

6. The combination with a load conveying cableway carriage and its load lock, of a stop, a latch engaging the stop, and adapted to operate the load look, a lock for the latch, andmeans adapted to engage the stop to operate said latch lock.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

WILLIAM MAYO VENABLE.

independently of V 

